Adina Levin's weblog. For conversation about books I've been reading, social software, and other stuff too.

Groupforming around the INDUCE Act

An impromptu discussion group gathered in Ed Felten’s blog comments as the Senate Judiciary Committee discussed the INDUCE act, another bill that bans innovative technology in the guise of protecting copyright.
I picked up a link to the hearing from a blog, discussed on #joiito at the time, and found the Felten conversation yesterday, through a Technorati search.
Technology vendors and tech activists were able to swarm and organize strong, cohesive opposition to the bill, which was submitted close to a deadline.
Unlike the DMCA a decade ago, technology vendors and public interest groups like EFF and Public Knowledge are sticking together, and acting cohesively to fight threats to innovation and creativity.
It’s incredibly cool for interested citizens to be able to organize an ad-hoc crowd to watch the hearings. I can’t wait for the day when the senate committee will use Technorati and its cousins, and the virtual gallery will be visible to the government.